Borough police arrested the accused animal abuser Tuesday morning after arriving at his 816 Main St. home in the driving rain with a warrant and handcuffs. They confirmed reports Monday night that Mr. Tanis defied a court order prohibiting him from having more than one dog while he awaits trial for animal abuse, the second defiance in a week.

They knocked, but no one answered. Officer Jim Decker checked around the right side of the home. No one there. He turned and walked across the street to use a phone, and a shout rang out from the left back side of the home.

"He's in the alley," an officer shouted.

Officer Decker ran and found Mr. Tanis standing under a shed next to a pickup truck with a flat tire.

He accepted the papers and held up his hands for cuffs. Mr. Tanis is at the Lackawanna County Prison without bail. A hearing will be scheduled within 72 hours, according to court papers.

Lackawanna County Judge Vito Geroulo signed the order to revoke Mr. Tanis' bail Tuesday, after police found a dog on his roof and more puppies in his yard the night before.

Mr. Tanis, 65. who is charged with five counts of animal cruelty, has had dogs removed from his home twice in the last four months to comply with a bail condition that he only possess one dog.

Authorities removed 10 dogs in November 2012. Four puppies were removed from his home Thursday. Assistant District Attorney Michael Ossont last week filed a first request to have Mr. Tanis' bail revoked. Mr. Tanis told the judge at the bail hearing Friday the one dog he was permitted to keep, Pinky, had given birth.

In court, he said he wasn't sure if she was pregnant when he kept her. He told The Times-Tribune earlier that week that her pregnancy was why he kept her. Judge Geroulo did not revoke his bail Friday, but issued a stern warning.

"All you have to remember is two three-letter words: 'one dog,'" Judge Geroulo said.

A veterinarian, however, determined the four puppies removed from Mr. Tanis' home Thursday were different ages and could not be from the same litter, meaning Mr. Tanis' testimony was a "blatant misrepresentation to the court after being warned of the penalty for perjury," the revocation petition states.

Attempts to reach his public defender, Thomas P. Cummings III, were unsuccessful.

Police donned gloves and girded themselves to remove any additional animals from the home. The smell inside was repugnant and the home was cluttered with piles of garbage and spoiled food, said Denise Kumor, chief executive officer for Tracey's Hope Hospice Care and Rescue for Domestic Animals.

Only one dog was found in his house. It is not clear whether that dog was Pinky, but Ms. Kumor said it was not the dog seen on the roof Monday.

One other dog was voluntarily taken by Tracey's Hope on Monday night from Betty Baszewski, a neighbor to which Mr. Tanis had the license transferred. Another seized dog Monday night was licensed to his church, Saints of Beersheba International Church, which state records show was incorporated in 2011 to Mr. Tanis' home.

Mr. Tanis told police Ms. Baszewski was a volunteer with "Beersheba Church Puppy Adoption," though she told police she has never been a member of his church, which "is only a piece of land in Tunkhannock," she said. Mr. Tanis has said he is a minister of the church and has often appeared in public wearing a priest's collar. He did not answer direct questions about his church and its members, nor could he provide a phone number for the church, in an interview with the Times-Tribune earlier this month.

Ms. Baszewski told police that she did not know Mr. Tanis was using her to take care of the dogs and the situation frightened her.

The dog removed Tuesday marks 30 animals that have been seized in the case and placed in the custody with Tracey's Hope, Ms. Kumor said. The veterinary bill she has to pay to take care of them, given that many suffered abuse or neglect, is estimated at more than $10,000, she said.

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